Trying to ‘survive this hell hole’: Alleged parent poisoner Raelene Polymiadis has ‘code black’ in cell
A court has heard how a woman accused of murdering her parents by poisoning them with insulin was found “unresponsive” in her cell, after “inappropriate” diabetes treatment in custody.
Police & Courts
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Alleged insulin poisoning murderer Raelene Polymiadis has received “gobsmackingly inept, absolutely inappropriate” treatment for her diabetes in custody since her arrest, a top expert has told a court.
On Thursday, Mrs Polymiadis continued her Supreme Court bid for immediate release on home detention bail over allegations she murdered both of her parents.
Defence barrister Marie Shaw KC said her client had been the subject of a “code black” in prison on Wednesday, having been found “unresponsive and clammy” in her cell.
She said that, since being remanded in custody, Mrs Polymiadis had also suffered from blood pressure as high as 200 over 90.
“That wasn’t a condition that she experienced before her remand in custody … she told her husband she was trying to ‘survive in this hell hole’,” she said.
The court also heard evidence from Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide endocrinologist Professor Gary Wittert.
Professor Wittert said high blood pressure was a result of sleep apnoea, and exacerbated the decline of Mrs Polymiadis’ diabetes which had been “well-managed since 1981”.
He said he was “so stunned” that prison authorities insisted Mrs Polymiadis has type 2 diabetes, despite her specialist’s diagnosis of type 1, that he “had to read” her file “two or three times”.
“A treatment plan had been put in place by an endocrinologist and that was changed on the basis of an ad hoc decision by a prison medical officer who never consulted with Mrs Polymiadis directly,” he said.
“I found that gobsmackingly extraordinary and absolutely inappropriate … why would someone second guess what a specialist has decided? I found that unbelievable.
“It’s inept, it’s a failure to exercise duty of care, it’s inconsistent with prison health services’ guidelines that it must provide the same level of care as in the community … instead, her concerns have been trivialised.
“The mismanagement was almost inviting this kind of (code black) incident … these things can be fatal to people.”
Mrs Polymiadis, 62, of Craigmore, has yet to plead to two counts of murder over the deaths of her parents, Brenda and Lynton Anderson, in 2022 and 2023.
Prosecutors have alleged she administered insulin to them both, when neither was diabetic, resulting in their deaths – and tried to portray her father’s death as suicide.
Other allegations aired in court, including Mrs Polymiadis’ purported motive, are the subject of multiple suppression orders.
On Thursday, Ms Shaw repeated her assertion that Mrs Polymiadis’ health was at risk so long as she is kept in custody.
“The fact that she suffers sleep apnoea is a condition that exacerbates the problems that have arisen as a result of what we submit has been the mismanagement of diabetes,” she said.
She said her client had spoken to her husband via telephone on July 8, July 9 and July 10 from prison seeking information about the make and model of the CPAP machine she used for sleep apnoea.
“My client instructs she was informed that the prison needed to know the make and model in order to get approval to bring that model into the prison.”
Karen Ingleton, prosecuting, asked Professor Wittert if Mrs Polymiadis’ diabetes could be adequately managed in prison were she given her originally-prescribed medication and a CPAP machine for her sleep apnoea.
He said the “technical answer is yes”, provided she was also given the “autonomy” to test her blood sugar levels.
“But this has not been a stunning example of how to deliver medical care,” he said.
Justice Julie McIntyre remanded Mrs Polymiadis in custody to a further hearing next week.
She said she would also order a home detention bail inquiry report, but stressed that should not been seen as “determinative” of the application.
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